Foundation asks Orange County to start fresh on La Guardia

Tuesday

Jul 29, 2008 at 2:00 AM

GOSHEN — An Orange County organization is calling for a fresh look at the future of the county's Camp La Guardia property — one that solicits detailed input from planning professionals and local residents to decide what will be built on the 258 acres.

Chris McKenna

GOSHEN — An Orange County organization is calling for a fresh look at the future of the county's Camp La Guardia property — one that solicits detailed input from planning professionals and local residents to decide what will be built on the 258 acres.

In a recent letter to County Executive Ed Diana and key lawmakers, the Orange County Citizens Foundation argues the county should step back from the bids and building proposals it has debated for months and effectively start over with a new approach.

"We hope you will consider holding the property until the best interests of the county, the municipalities, and the public can be further examined," wrote foundation President Nancy Proyect.

The prospect of further delay in selling the property is unlikely to appeal to Diana and at least some lawmakers. But Proyect argued too much is at stake with the development of so large a property to rush into a sale.

"I think we have to look at this as a long-term planning project, and not a quick turnaround," Proyect said.

Legislature Chairman William Lahey, R-New Windsor, said Monday that the request had come too late and that he hoped the Legislature will choose a buyer in September after another round of committee discussions next month.

"They've had more than a year to write that letter," Lahey said, referring to the Citizens Foundation. "I don't envision that we're going to start over, by any stretch of the imagination."

Like Diana, most lawmakers are eager to recoup the roughly $9 million the county has spent on the former homeless shelter property. One has even floated the idea of having the county override local zoning in the three host municipalities if that proves to be an obstruction.

But two legal experts cast doubts on the viability of that option Monday.

They said a project with a clear governmental purpose — such as a courthouse or jail — might be immune to local zoning rules, under New York case law. But that immunity doesn't apply to the proposals in this instance, they said.

"I think a private development on county property would be subject to local zoning," said Rick Hoffman, an attorney for the state Department of State.

Patricia Salkin, director of the Government Law Center of Albany Law School, concurred: "My gut reaction is they probably can't (bypass local zoning), because the project would not be for a public purpose."